I grew up in Alaska, in the town of Sitka, which had approximately 21 miles of road and some spectacular scenery. After high school I attended the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, as an undergraduate, the University of York as a graduate, and after a brief hiatus the Central School of Speech and Drama on their directing course, followed by two years directing shows in and around London (including a production of Titus Andronicus that was a Time Out Critic’s Choice).
Within six months of moving to Seattle I was writing theatre criticism for the Seattle Weekly, where I worked for six years, while continuing to write and direct theatre at the rate of one or two shows a year. I also became the President of the Washington Chapter of the Northwest Playwright’s Guild, as well as running a regular playwright’s group.
From late 2003 to early 2005 I was the artistic director of a small but beloved fringe company, Theatre Babylon, where we managed to produce a year and a half of great plays before losing our venue in an impressive tangle of bureaucratic red tape.
From 2008 to 2010 I was the PR Manager for Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, a gorgeous historic building that produced a full season of fully-staged musicals. It was a fun job–though even after two years I still prefer theatre where no one spontaneously bursts into song or leaps into a choreographed dance number.
Since then I’ve relocated to Portland, Oregon where I’ve written a series of articles and art pieces for Oregon ArtsWatch and completed two novels and several short stories. I’ve also been writing and producing the multi-platform BRASS series, which has currently resulted in four seasons of an audio drama podcast, four short films and as many full-length plays; for more on all of that, head over to the Battleground Productions website.
I’m an avid Sherlockian (member in good standing of The Sound of the Baskervilles, a BSI Affiliate Organization) and enjoy sparring in a variety of Victorian martial arts, including cutlass, walking stick and bare-fisted pugilism, generally with my friends in Seattle’s BWAHAHAHA, a subset of the HEMA group Lonin. Go here for more information on these great folks.
I live with two absurd dogs and one talented and beautiful human.